hello there! it's been a while since i've shared anything on this little site of mine. i have so much to talk about and share (like being pregnant with our second baby!) but i'm having a really difficult time getting 1. motivated and 2. making time to sit down and actually post on here. i have been working on a new layout though because i'm bored with the old one and have plans to share a lot of things about this pregnancy, house projects and other tid bits from our life. so i hope you'll check back soon to see and read all the changes.

can i make a confession? dave and i are terrible at renovating. we make lists that we can't stick to, we start projects then leave them unfinished for weeks + months, we say we're going to do something and then don't. we're a mess. but little by little, we're finishing projects and getting closer and closer to having a complete home.

this time last year we had just moved in with dave's grandma and was working tirelessly on our home. we had no idea the journey that it would take to get our home to the point it is at right now. and we had no idea that we would be living with someone else for as long as we did. our family unit looked so different this time last year. every evening was spent at the house, running through a drive thru on the way home and putting elias in bed way too late. we spent very little time doing anything, "fun" or as a family because we were too busy trying to get our home in a liveable state. i'm grateful for what we went through, for it made us stronger and i'm grateful for our home and the hard work dave has put in to our place, but i'm also glad we are out of that rough patch. renovating is hard, you all. really, really hard.

having a child means you're going to have a lot of STUFF, it's inevitable. but what you do with all of that stuff and how you display it, is up to you. i personally believe that you don't have to sacrifice your personal style + taste just because you have children and it IS possible to live in a clutter free home with kids. i know, i know.. that sounds crazy and nearly impossible. but i assure you, it's not! let me explain.

last summer, i shared with you all our homemade laundry detergent and mentioned my desire to create a stain remover, as well. several of you all responded with recipes that you all use + love- thank you! i looked them over and noticed one common ingredient in all the recipes: dawn's dish soap. i really wanted to use Dr. Bronner's, because i already had it on hand, so i replaced the soaps, added a few drops of essential oils and BOOM- the best stain remover i've ever used.

dave and i have had a garden every year for the past 4 years. we look forward to planning what we want to grow, choosing the seeds and then watching the fruits of our labor flourish throughout the summer. our usual meals during the summer contain whatever is ready from the garden that day. one summer, our squash did especially well, so we feel pretty confident in how to season + cook our squash. (my fave: on the grill with a little.. okay, A LOT of creole seasoning. yum!)

when you live in a fixer upper, you keep a constant "to-do" list. it's just part of the gig. you'll have a lot of projects that HAVE to be done (for us that's window trim, bathrooms, closets and baseboards), but and then you'll have projects you do solely for design + appeal. my favorite is obviously the latter of the two.

t's been a year now since we first laid eyes on our home and started actively pursuing it. there for a while i was keeping you all updated on the buying process and then when renovations started, i tried my best to keep you all in the loop. about half way through though, it just wasn't fun anymore and i started getting really discouraged with the process and was totally and completely over it. so i stopped updating and decided to hold off until it was complete or at least almost complete.

last week we got two rounds of snow that hit our town. the first one was on Tuesday- we woke up to 3 or so inches that remained on the ground until friday when another, bigger storm came through. the whole week there was a buzz of excitement in the air with anticipation of the storm. i made a few trips to the grocery to stock up on snacks + comfort foods + soups. we prepared our home for the cold, dave brought more blankets out of storage and i kept my fingers crossed that he'd get to work from home (spoiler: he did! :) ).

It's a new year and with that comes this sense of a fresh start, a new beginning, a glimmer of hope for change. I, for one, can't help but feel recharged at the start of the year. I think of projects, goals, or personal accomplishments I'd like to set and daydream of what the year could possibly hold for us.